What's Your View on oBikes?

p1 ama on 20/03/2018 - 01:09
Last edited 20/03/2018 - 13:24 by 1 other user

So some of you may be aware that oBikes is a bike sharing service which has "dockless" bikes around Melbourne.

Their bikes have become somewhat of a running joke around here, with many of them ending up in poles, trees, dumped in the Yarra River and generally being found in places that are a nuisance to the general public.

https://www.theage.com.au/technology/rogue-obike-sharebike-c…

However, after thinking about this, is it fair that we blame oBike for their bikes being the target of vandalism and destruction? Surely the people at fault here are the idiots who dump them in rivers and fling them on poles in the first place? Likewise, the fault of illegal parking is with the last rider?

Similar logic doesn't apply anywhere else, e.g. if I dump a GoGet car in the Yarra River, then I'm pretty sure I'll be in trouble, not GoGet.

What's your take?

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Comments

  • bobbified on 20/03/2018 - 01:27
    +14

    I really despise the fact that so many people in Australia don't seem to have the ability to respect the property of others. It's not just oBikes. It's pretty much everything!

    I was born and raised in Australia - I visit places like asia and I look at things and think to myself "if we had this in Australia, it'll either be broken, vandalised or stolen".

    You can see by the designs that are used for public property here - it's all designed to be vandal and theft resistant.

    If there was any blame on oBike, it'll be the fact they made the incorrect assumption that we had a decent population of people over here.

    And this is why we can't have nice things.

    • slow on 20/03/2018 - 08:47
      +1

      Agree completely, this is one of my pet peeves. Just yesterday I saw that someone decided to destroy a bench that had been left for elderly crossing guards to sit on near my house. And last weekend I took my kids to the play area at the local park, and some @#$%^wits had decided overnight that it would be a good to idea to smash beer bottles over the whole area. The list goes on…..

      If people used the bikes as they were intended and then left them nicely in an suitable place there wouldn't be a problem.

      What is wrong with people??

    • altomic on 20/03/2018 - 09:24
      +3

      "this is why we can't have nice things" - decent Australians

    • tsunamisurfer on 20/03/2018 - 12:24

      I don't think its just Australia.

      Google oBike Singapore….you will also see people's penchant for dumping them in parks, gutters, drains and rivers.

    • p1 ama on 20/03/2018 - 20:16

      I completely agree, and I think that part of the reason why this culture exists is because we basically shield and defend people who do stupid things. Somehow some idiot dumps a bike in the Yarra River and that's the fault of oBike? It just sounds ridiculous to me.

  • AlienC on 20/03/2018 - 01:32

    Great idea terrible and hard execution. It's basically the first step towards something much greater.. universal car sharing but we may need more automation for every body to get on board with that or maybe even a tiny bit of the population.. just kidding it's already happening but because I can't drive I would love an army of automated taxis at my service maybe if we can somehow solve the disgusting mess problem I guess same issue here.

    Having access to a bike anywhere wherever you go is amazing especially if it is a long trek.. expands your destination capabilities and maybe even time constraints because increased speed but I honestly don't know how they work or how much they cost but I have seen their equivalents here and there around Sydney.

    Good if you need to get somewhere in a rush I suppose but eff ew to the idiots throwing them in the river.. keep forgetting we will never get rid of the idiots of this world ever…

    Stupid to target obikes when it is clearly not their fault and it's not like they are baiting them or anyone to do this stupid shit.

  • Diji1 on 20/03/2018 - 01:46

    the first step towards something much greater.. universal car sharing

    Automated cars, if they actually become a reality, are going to create much more traffic than there is now if everyone uses it instead of public transport.

  • twww on 20/03/2018 - 05:17
    +2

    These are shit. Bikes left anywhere to become someone else's issue.

    Sure it's not right to vandalise anything but wouldn't it be nice for such companies to pay for the space that these bikes take up.

    Why should I have to put up with someone "dumping" a bike on or near my property creating a hazard, I did not ask for?

    • chumlee on 20/03/2018 - 07:50
      +1

      Yes. Agree 100%.

      O bikes are clutter and should be taken to recycle yard

    • p1 ama on 20/03/2018 - 20:18

      Why should I have to put up with someone "dumping" a bike on or near my property creating a hazard, I did not ask for?

      Yes, but doesn't it seem odd that nobody is chasing after the people who do stupid things? There is nothing inherently wrong with oBikes, the issue is that people use them irresponsibly. If so, why is there no effort being made to resolve this?

      And let's also not forget that vandalism and destruction of property is absolutely a crime too.

  • tighttighttight1 on 20/03/2018 - 07:12

    I'm surprised people haven't figured out a way to stop the lock from locking so that they can claim a free bike already, especially, seeing the state of some of these bikes and locations of these bikes.

    • pegaxs on 20/03/2018 - 07:47

      I walk around Sydney after TAFE and just look at all these bikes. A lot of them, the lock is either not locked or is broken. And I think that the sheer number of these bikes is part of the reason they don’t get stolen.

      When I saw these things pop up all over the area, the first thing I thought was, how are all of these not getting stolen? But then I looked at the quality of these bikes and the design. They are very ordinary and lack any features. There is not a lot you can do with it if you stole it. You can’t sell it, because anyone can pick one up off the street. They are bland and ugly and even any parts you could strip them for are not worth it.

      The only option for bored bogans to contemplate is vandalism.

      • mskeggs on 20/03/2018 - 07:51
        +1

        I anticipate there will one day be a public auction of impounded bikes. I think they would be a good buy for $20 to give to a kid. They are quite sturdy, and while pretty heavy, a couple of brands have 3sp hub gears.

    • mskeggs on 20/03/2018 - 07:49

      You need to lock them at the end of your ride to 'sign off', otherwise you continue to be charged.
      That said, I too am surprised some caped crusader with a pair of bolt cutters hasn't spent an evening permanently freeing them all around town.

  • rambutann on 20/03/2018 - 07:46
    +3

    Basically the obikes show that we suck as a society.

  • mskeggs on 20/03/2018 - 07:58

    I like the idea very much, and have enjoyed a couple of free rides.
    However, central Sydney is too hilly and humid for a lot of casual cycling as a mainstream way of getting around, the car traffic is pretty unforgiving, plus the helmet laws make it cumbersome.

    I hope there is a bit of a shakeout and the companies that remain maintain their bikes well (obike seems most visibly to leave broken bikes lying around) and encourages people to be thoughtful in where they park etc.

  • jjjaar on 20/03/2018 - 08:15

    I don't like obikes, because their business model is to basically mine your data from your phone and sell it to third parties. The bikes are just the bait.

    Other dockless bike sharing companies, like mobike (who obike mimiced), are much better. They actually work with authorities to have their bikes placed in strategic locations, and then share the travel patterns of users back to authorities to use to implement improved bike infrastructure. They also work with private companies to use their land and then through the app if you park in that spot, you will get a coupon to use at that shop. They then also reward users for using and relocating bikes that have been unused for a day or so, by providing free or reduced rides.

    Obikes just buy bikes and dump them everywhere for company exposure.

    • mskeggs on 20/03/2018 - 09:27

      I keep reading this idea that rider data holds some value, but I think it is garbage, just cover for what is a pump and dump investment scheme aiming to separate investors from their money to benefit founders.
      After all, consider what value the data could possibly have? Twitter already has better location and movement data on every one of its subscribers. Google can track every android device by SSID. Apple much the same.
      The public transport network or toll road operators would have data even more valuable, and each mobile telco had more than all these others.

      So what do bike share data harvests actually contain that is worth even the slightest value?

      • jjjaar on 20/03/2018 - 10:08

        Twitter and Google don't share the raw data with authorities, making it absolutely useless.

        • mskeggs on 20/03/2018 - 11:17

          Not sure I understand.
          Do you think the bike data would be immune from warrant? Depending on how it is transmitted it may not be subject to lawful interception, I guess, but I am a bit skeptical.
          Obviously all Google and Twitter data is available via warrant e.g. https://transparencyreport.google.com/

          and the cell towers all log everything. You can't use the bikes without an app, so I don't understand why the bike company data would be worth anything.

  • Seraphin7 on 20/03/2018 - 10:55

    The things are a damn menace. The fact that are, in practical terms, allowed to be dumped where ever the last user sees fit and councils are too gutless to deal with them accordingly is ridiculous.

    Over the weekend I saw a bike (not a share bike) that had been left in a park with a council dumping sticker attached to it, surrounded by these ridiculous share bikes with no similar stickers on them. Why?

    The quicker these things are rounded up and turned into landfill the better.

  • GG57 on 20/03/2018 - 11:15
    +2

    It is definitely the primary fault of the users in dumping the bikes everywhere and anywhere. Maybe a sign of the times where nothing is valued, and the concept of sharing within a community is missing.
    Having said that, the business model in managing their fleet of bikes must be flawed to allow this to continue. I understood that they had a responsibility to retrieve bikes and manage the availability / maintenance.

    I support the concept of easily-accessible bikes for use as transport, but Melbourne is not overly bike-friendly unless you are near and want to use the commuter-focused bike paths / lanes.

    • p1 ama on 20/03/2018 - 20:21
      +1

      I completely agree - there is definitely a problem here. However, let's think about this for a second. The media makes a joke out of an oBike being flung onto a pole, but if that happened to someone's personal bike, do you think we'd all be standing around laughing or would we say that's a completely unacceptable form of vandalism?

      I think that the culture needs to change. People treat public goods like absolute trash. Just look at the condition of some of the trains and buses we have in Melbourne. This is not to mention that somehow, collectively, we find it funny that vandals are trashing property.

  • mysterytal on 20/03/2018 - 11:33

    They could be great but people here can't treat either them or the riders with any respect at all.

    I do support sharing. It's supposed to cost less than owning and maintaining the bicycle yourself.

    Bicycle users need to park these up in appropriate places. Council's need to provide those places with funding provided by the cycle sharing companies.

    I can't see any long term success but I do wish them well.

  • kevsta on 20/03/2018 - 15:13

    My issue is with them being left all over the foot path inconveniencing pedestrians and at also being a tripping hazard when they've been knocked down. Just recently, I've been seeing obikes left on the side of the road taking up an actual street car parking spot so it now inconveniences drivers as well.

    If you have a neighbour that you don't like, you can leave a few of these obikes parked at the front of their house… just a thought.

    These obikes really need docking stations.

  • robbo135 on 20/03/2018 - 19:52
    -1

    Need to ban them.

    The roads and footpaths are now filled with share bike riders who have no consideration for other people/cars and have no sense of road rules nor etiquette on footpaths. Combine that with the hoard of Deliveroo/Foodora/Uber Eats bicycle delivery drivers and it is a nightmare. I've seen some ridiculous antics by some bike riders which have put themselves and others in danger.

    My pet peeve are bike riders who demand 'respect' from other car users when on the road, but then you have those same bike riders blatantly ignoring red lights and cutting across pedestrians crossing at a green light.

    • p1 ama on 20/03/2018 - 20:24
      +1

      Why would you think that banning is a solution?

      It just seems like such a knee-jerk reaction - there's something we don't like, BAN IT! It's not a question of better education, better infrastructure, better rules and regulations which help everyone to coexist?

      I agree that these issues happen. There are some people who drive dangerously, should we ban cars? Of course not, you fine or discipline the people who drive stupidly so that they don't do that anymore. I think the same things should happen with bikes - you fine the people who do stupid things and you enforce the rules. "Banning" seems to be the wrong solution to this problem.

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